Sliding Doors - KoF Edition
by RobertCop3
Summary: "Alternate timeline" fic that starts in the middle of my fanfic "Family Ties." What if Mai had lost the duel to her cousin instead of winning, and as a result, was exiled from her clan, and had to leave her family's dojo? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Sliding Doors – KoF Edition**

by

RobertCop3

It's a new year, so I'm going outside of my comfort zone and trying something completely different: writing an AU timeline for my main Fatal Fury/KoF fanfic timeline. It's a "what if?" scenario involving my fanfic "Family Ties." In this case, when Mai is fighting her honor duel, she does not have the breakthrough that enables her to master the "Kagerou no mai" (Solar Flame Dance), and so she loses to her cousin, setting up an alternate timeline where she also loses her dojo. This fic starts right up in the middle of "Family Ties," so I do recommend you read that first so you know what's going on, because I don't feel like recapping. Hey, I'm the storyteller. I'll do as I damn well please. Besides, I'm also trying to encourage people to read more of my stuff.

And this may seem depressing, but try and stick with it. I promise it has a happy ending! And also, let me know what you think of this "alternate timeline" idea, because I've come up with a few ideas for stories for it.

All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the anime.

* * *

 _Chapter One_

 **Seki, Japan. The Shiranui Clan Temple. October 1996**

 _I couldn't do it_ , Mai Shiranui thought sadly as she wavered there unsteadily on her feet, feeling like she was about to faint. _I just can't gather the energy that the Solar Flame Dance requires. It's too much. I'm sorry, Ojisama. I've failed you here today._ Mai wiped some blood from the side of her mouth and considered her next strategy. She could probably continue to dodge her cousin's attacks for a while longer, but she just couldn't get through his defenses. She was starting to think her best bet was to yield before Nobu got lucky, and struck a blow that was crippling or fatal.

Mai's opponent, Nobutoki Shiranui, the grandson of her uncle Saburo, seemed to see this in the ninja girl's eyes, and though he could easily have brought the fight to an end, he decided to taunt her some more. "I can end your suffering, Mai-san! Just yield, and admit that you never had any business trying to be a ninja! You'll still get to marry your hakujin boy toy, and Hanzo-sensei's dojo will get a proper master. Everyone gets what they want!"

Mai scanned the edges of the ring, studying the faces of her clan. Most of them were jeering, more were shouting for her to yield. But in their sea of smug faces, she saw Andy Bogard, the man she loved, and would soon marry, and someday have children with. His blue eyes were shining with the light of love as he looked straight at Mai, and she could see that he was saying something. Though he spoke too softly for Mai to hear over the shouting of her clan and the blood pounding in her ears, lip-reading had been part of her kunoichi training.

"I believe in you, Mai," Andy was saying to her. "Win or lose here today, I love you, no matter what."

 _I love him so much_ , Mai thought sadly. _And I've failed him, too._ Her gaze moved back over to her cousin, who was still taunting her.

A spark ignited within her upon seeing Nobutoki's ugly sneer. _No! It can't end like this. I can't give up or yield to this bastard. Andy believes in me. Grandfather trusted me to be the master of my family's dojo. I won't fail them. So what if I can't do the Kagerou no mai? I can still hit Nobutoki-san hard with everything I've got, and take him down._

Mai's anger at her cousin and her clan gave her a second wind. She tucked her fan into her mouth, and charged at Nobutoki with her head bent towards the ground. Nobu was taken aback by Mai's sudden rush, and was not prepared when Mai planted one hand on the cobbled ground of the courtyard, then balanced on it as she flipped the lower half of her body forward over her head, sandwiched her cousin's own head between her ankles, then used her leg strength to lift him off the ground and fling him to the other side of the ring, where he landed with a satisfying smack.

Nobu rose to his feet somewhat shaky, but recovered quickly when he saw Mai come somersaulting through the air towards him. At the last second, she extended her leg, trying to bring her heel down on his head. Nobu managed to sidestep that move, but was hit a second later by Mai's Ryu En Bou, sending him to the ground again.

To the untrained eye, it might appear that Mai was gaining the upper hand. But on the sidelines, Andy was watching with concern. _She's making the same mistake I sometimes make,_ he thought. _Fighting angry. She's too unfocused. She'll get tired too fast, and then her cousin will own her..._

"Focus, Mai," he whispered. "Please try to focus..."

Nobu was quick to notice the same thing Andy did. After taking another kick to his midsection, he jumped back a few paces and raised his tonfa in a defensive stance. Mai charged at him again, her arms a blur as she whirled her fans in front of her. This time, Nobutoki saw the opening in her attack. Calmly, he swung outward with his tonfa when Mai was almost on top of him, catching his cousin in her solar plexus.

Mai paused in her advance as the wind was knocked from her. Nobu followed this with a low sweep of the tonfa at her legs, which Mai jumped to avoid. She shifted her stance quickly in midair, and tried to bring her knees down on her cousin's head. Nobutoki rolled under this as she came down, then quickly sprang to his feet and slammed both his tonfa into Mai's back, this time charged with chi fire. The ninja girl cried out in pain as she took the full brunt of the strike, and then crumpled to the ground.

Mai's cousin backed away a few paces, expecting her to finally give up. His smug expression quickly turned to one of shock as Mai rose shakily to her feet once again. Maybe it was the fire in her eyes, but for once, Nobutoki was surprised to find he did not have any taunts. "Mai-san, you... you're really not making this fun for me anymore! Just yield before I'm forced to seriously hurt you!"

Mai took a deep breath, and then spit some blood onto the courtyard stones. "I will _die_ before I yield to you!" She growled at her cousin, then charged at him again.

This time, there was no style or finesse in her attack. She closed the distance between herself and Nobutoki and swung her fans at him as hard as humanly possible. For several minutes, they went back and forth, exchanging blows, though it was clear to anyone watching that Nobu was getting a lot more hits in than Mai.

On the sidelines, Andy's heart was pounding, and he was biting the knuckles on his right hand. It was torture, watching his fiancee suffer such a beating, but at the same time, Andy could not show weakness in front of Mai's clansmen by looking away. _Come on, Mai, focus! Stop fighting angry! We both know you're a better ninja than this!_

 _Come on, girl!_ Mai was thinking to herself out in the fighting zone. _Push yourself to the limits! Your man is counting on you! Your family's future is riding on this!_ She managed to get one more solid hit in with her fan, striking her opponent in the ribs, but Nobutoki avoided her follow-up by pivoting his body to the left, then he spun around and lashed out with his tonfa. Mai raised her fan to try and block it, but her cousin's weapon broke through, snapping her fan clean in half. Nobu's tonfa never did stop until it found its true mark, striking Mai hard on the right side of her face.

Bright stars exploded in Mai's vision, leaving her unable to see for a few seconds. Her cousin took full advantage of that time: a swift strike to the gut, followed by another blow to the back of Mai's shins, causing her legs to give out and bringing the kunoichi to her knees. Another blow to the left forearm, making Mai drop her other fan. Then Nobutoki was behind her, pinning the tails of Mai's fighting costume to the ground with his foot while he used his tonfa to put Mai into a strangle hold.

Mai tried frantically to breathe as her cousin cruelly pressed his weapon down on her windpipe, but she could feel her lungs starting to burn. And in her current position, she had nothing to use to give her any leverage over the hold. Still, she stubbornly tried to fight on, struggling under her cousin's grip, even though she gained no ground. _Damn it, I can't lose... I can't give up..._

Andy had turned white as a sheet. He could see that the fight was now unwinnable, but Mai was still struggling against Nobutoki's unbreakable hold. "Please, Mai..." He whispered. "You can't win this fight anymore. Just yield before he breaks your neck."

A moment later, as if Mai had somehow heard her lover's plea, her voice of reason finally won out over her anger. The ninja girl managed to raise one hand, and feebly tap it against Nobutoki's forearm. Nobu relaxed his grip enough to let Mai breathe. She took several gulps of life-giving air, and after the fire in her chest had died down a little, she gasped out: "I... I yield..."

Though he gave her enough leeway to breathe, Nobutoki still kept his hold on Mai. "Louder, please," he said to her.

"Uncles!" Mai called over to the bench where the clan elders were seated. "This contest... is over! I... yield to Shiranui-Nobutoki!" Mai's head sank a little as the weight of those words sank in, tears started to form in her dark brown eyes, and her voice cracked a little when she repeated: "I... yield, I... I yield..."

Mai felt the tonfa stick lift off her neck completely as Nobutoki stood up straight to give a respectful bow to Jirou and Saburo. The rest of the clan began to applaud him. Over on the sidelines, Andy was tensed like a coiled spring, waiting for the formalities to be over so he could be at Mai's side. Mai stayed on her knees, looking down at the ground, tears now streaking her face. There was a time when she would never have cried in front of her clan, but now... she saw no reason to hold back. In a few more moments, they would no longer be her clan.

Sure enough, once the applause died down, Jirou Shiranui stood up and raised his hands, arms held wide apart. "Shiranui-Mai!" He called over to his great-niece. "Granddaughter of Shiranui-Hanzo, daughter of Shiranui-Tadatsugu. In accordance with the terms of this duel, agreed upon by the both of us before it began, you are henceforth exiled from Clan Shiranui! And furthermore, you relinquish any claim you might have had upon your family's dojo, and all possessions contained therein. It is now closed to you and your descendants, from this day onward!"

He took his seat once more. As if these words had drained the last of her strength, Mai Shiranui collapsed forward to the ground, her face buried in her arms. Nobutoki had left the ring, so Andy Bogard now raced to his fiancee's side.

He gently turned Mai over and cradled her in his arms. "Mai, are you okay? Please... speak to me!"

Her brown eyes opened only slightly, stained with tears. "Andy," she whispered. "I... I failed." Then she slumped back in his arms as the adrenalin left her system completely, and she finally fainted from the beating she had taken.

Andy placed two fingers on her neck and blew a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse. "It's okay, Mai," he whispered. "All that matters to me right now is that you're safe." He then ran his hands up and down Mai's arms and legs, feeling for broken bones. Everything seemed intact, so Andy rose to his feet, carrying the wounded ninja girl bridal style in his arms.

"We are not devoid of compassion," Jirou said to Andy. "You will both be allowed to stay at the dojo until this time next week, to get your affairs in order and make any arrangements you need. We will be there next Saturday morning, with the legal documents for Mai-san to sign."

There were many things Andy would have _liked_ to do or say at that moment. But if he spoke his mind, Jirou might reconsider his offer to let them stay another week in the dojo. Instead, he simply bowed his head at the elder ninja. "Arigato, Shiranui-Jirou-san," he said, then turned and started to carry Mai out of the temple.

By the time Andy reached the bottom of the long stone stairway, Mai was awake again. Andy asked her if she could walk, and got no answer. Mai simply stared blankly at the dirt path ahead of them, so Andy continued to carry her as they made their way back to the village of Seki. Since she remained silent, Andy decided to do the same. It was probably still too early for Mai to want words of comfort, and she _certainly_ wouldn't want to hear Andy's thoughts on how that fight could have gone better if she hadn't been so emotional.

 _Doesn't matter now, anyway,_ Andy thought. _What's done is done. I'm sure Mai feels bad enough already._

Finally, when they were less than a mile from the outskirts of town, Andy said: "Um, Mai... we're almost at the town. Do you think... maybe you should put your kimono back on?" Right before her fight with Nobutoki, Mai had quick-changed out of the ceremonial kimono she'd put on that morning and into her fighting costume. Andy knew that ordinarily, she wouldn't have been averse to wearing an outfit in public that gave people an easy view of her assets, but at the moment, Mai probably didn't want to be ogled or heckled.

"Right," Mai said weakly, her voice still a little hoarse from having Nobu's tonfa pressed against her neck earlier. "Please... put me down."

Andy bent at the knees and gently helped Mai out of his arms and into a standing position. The kunoichi started to spin quickly in place like a graceful ballet dancer... and then stumbled to the ground after only a few turns, her face down in the dirt path. The white sash that usually went around the waist of her ninja uniform was in knots around her knees, while the tails on the rear were wrapped in a tangle around each of her arms.

Andy actually found he had to hold back a tear of his own. Mai had become such an expert in changing outfits in a split-second. She hadn't stumbled like this in the middle of the technique since she was fourteen. For her to stumble now... she must really be upset, even more upset than she'd been in the weeks after her grandfather had passed on.

The kimono Mai had been trying to change into was lying on the path a few feet away. Andy quickly snatched it up and used it to cover Mai's half-naked body. Mai worked her way up into a sitting position in the dirt, her normally beautiful face now a study in misery.

"I t-tripped," she said, her voice breaking as tears started to flow from her eyes. "I c-c-couldn't win a simple honor duel, and now... I tripped while d-doing my quick change. I can't do _anything_ right, Andy!" Her voice trailed off, then, and Mai buried her face in Andy's shoulder and wept bitterly.

Andy sat next to her, his arms around her, feeling Mai's body shake with sobs as tears continued to pour from her eyes. "Andy..." she spoke again after a few minutes. She had stopped crying, but her voice was now punctuated by hiccups. "I'm so sorry..."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Mai. It's okay... we're still together, and as long as we have each other, we'll get through this."

Mai sat up suddenly, and pulled his arms off of her. "Okay? _How_ can it be okay? You were there! You saw what happened. In his will, my grandfather made me the master of his dojo. He trusted me with it! And I failed him... I... failed everyone! We're homeless now because of me!" She buried her head in her hands and started to cry once more.

For a few moments, Andy knelt there, wondering if he should put an arm back around her or not. In the end, he simply said: "Mai, we're not homeless. Remember, we talked about what to do in the... very unlikely event that this happened. We'll go to South Town. We have friends there who can help us."

Mai snorted, and hiccuped a little more. " _The very unlikely event._ Yeah, right. We should have known I'd fail."

"Mai..." Andy started to say again.

"Save it," Mai cut him off. "I just want to go back to the dojo, and crawl into bed for the rest of my life." Mai rose to her feet, and after she had untangled her fighting outfit, she put her kimono back on and tied the obi tightly around her midsection. She then continued down the path towards town.

Andy blinked a few times in surprise. Mai had never spoken to him like that before. Well, no, she had, but usually Andy had given her a good reason. This time, he wasn't sure he had.

 _She's had a bad day. She'll feel better after a good night's sleep. The best thing to do now is get her home and start treating her wounds._ Andy nodded to himself, then got to his feet and hurried to catch up with Mai.

* * *

Neither one of them spoke much as they arrived into town and walked to the train station. Mai spent the train ride back to Mino with her head resting in Andy's lap. Andy sat there and simply looked down at her, while holding Mai's hand in his own.

A large, purple bruise had blossomed on Mai's right cheek, courtesy of the hit she'd taken earlier from her cousin, and Andy was getting more than a few nasty stares from the younger, more progressive Japanese men in the train car. When they were about an hour from Mino, one such man actually walked over to them and asked Mai: "Excuse me, miss... but are you alright?"

Mai sat up next to Andy. "I'm fine," she said in a monotone that Andy had never heard her use before. Her voice was usually so perky and bubbly.

"Are you sure?" The man persisted. "This car is full of witnesses. Don't be afraid to tell the truth."

"I'm fine," Mai repeated in the same tone, staring straight ahead without looking up at the man.

He still stood over them, this time flashing Andy a dirty look. "Um..." It was obvious that Mai was not going to say more, so Andy quickly tried to come up with a story, not wanting to tell a stranger about ninja clan matters that didn't concern him. "We... were... hiking in the foothills of Mount Takinami earlier today, and... she tripped on a tree root."

The man snorted. "Yeah, I'll bet she did. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you... pathetic excuse of a man..."

Mai suddenly stood up, whipping a fan out from the sleeve of her kimono. "Are you fucking deaf? You heard what he said. We were hiking, and I tripped on a tree root. My man would _never_ abuse me, and how dare you even insinuate that! Now get the fuck out of our faces before I give you a bruise to match mine!"

She raised her fan menacingly, and the man quickly turned and started to walk towards the door to the next train car. "Crazy woman..." He muttered. "Was only trying to help, for Christ's sake..."

Mai sat back down in a huff, ignoring the stunned looks from everyone else still in the train car, Andy chief among them. He knew how mercurial Mai could sometimes be in her moods, but such a violent outburst (laden with profanity, no less) was not normal for her.

"Mai," Andy said with just the barest hint of hesitation. "Was that necessary? That guy was misinformed, but he meant well."

Mai's body visibly sagged again, as if the fight she'd had in her a moment ago seemed to evaporate. "Who cares?" She muttered, and lay her head back down on Andy's lap. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore..."

For the rest of the trip, they were silent. Night had fallen by the time they got back to the dojo. Mai insisted that she could make it up the long stone stairway, but only got halfway before she collapsed to her knees, from a mix of physical and emotional fatigue. Andy scooped her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way. Once at the top, he managed to get the door open, stepped into the darkened foyer, and kicked off his sandals.

Andy then navigated to their bedroom with Mai in his arms. Once there, he used his elbow to slide open the door, and to turn the light on. He got Mai to the futon and laid her gently down on her side.

"You must hate me now," Mai said softly as Andy started to undress her.

Andy paused in the action of pulling off her tabi socks, his blue eyes coming open in alarm. "Hate you?" He asked in disbelief. "Why would I hate you?"

"We're homeless now, because of me," Mai said, her head turned away from him. "Because I was stupid enough to believe I could actually win against my cousin. What was I thinking? I should have let you fight in my place."

"Mai, I told you before we have places we can go, so we're not going to be homeless. And anyway, I didn't interfere because you said it was a clan matter."

"Yes, but my clan has never liked me," Mai shot back. "Why should I have cared about showing them any respect?"

Andy placed his hand gently on Mai's shoulder. "Because you're a good person. Because your grandfather raised you to be better than the rest of your clan." Andy flinched then, realizing that he probably shouldn't have mentioned Hanzo. Sure enough, Mai's body started to tremble with sobs.

"And we see all the good that did," said Mai. "If you had fought Nobutoki instead of me, you would have won. You've always been a better fighter than me. I'm just a weak, useless girl that you always have to rescue. I'm dead weight in this relationship. I don't even know why you still want to marry a weak little girl like me. You should find another woman who's actually worthy of being Mrs. Andy Bogard."

Andy suddenly felt a twinge of fear knotting his stomach. He had never heard Mai talk like this before, and it scared him. "Mai, please don't say things like that. Look at me."

Mai, however, had buried her head in the pillow. She did not consider herself worthy to look at him, to gaze into those handsome blue eyes, to lose herself completely in his passionate kiss, to feel warm and safe when he held her close under the covers on cold nights...

"Mai, I love you," Andy continued. "I told you earlier that whatever happened in that fight, I would love you no matter what. And I meant it. I'll always love you. I don't care that we don't have the dojo anymore, I still want to marry you, build a home with you, give you children someday. And you're the only woman I want to do this with, Mai. If I can't have you, then I don't _want_ to do them with any other woman. So please don't say things like that. I... I need you."

Mai said nothing in response, so Andy repeated more firmly: "Mai, please tell me you understand that. _I. Don't. Want. Another. Woman._ You are the most beautiful, most unique woman I've ever met, and you are the only one I'll ever want. And I'm not leaving, ever. Do you understand?"

Though her face still remained buried in her pillow, Andy heard her say faintly: "Okay."

For a while, Andy just sat there, unable to say anything more. Mai continued to cry softly, her body trembling from her sobs. Finally, when it looked like she had calmed down a bit, Andy spoke again. "Mai, we need to get the rest of these clothes off. You have wounds that need to be treated."

Mai did not stir, so Andy had to finish undressing her himself. Thankfully, both her kimono and her fighting gi came off rather easily. After he had stripped her down to her panties, he winced as he saw all the raised red welts on Mai's otherwise flawless skin, courtesy of Nobu's tonfa.

"ll be back with something for those," Andy said. He got up and made his way down the hall to the kitchen, where Mai kept the medicinal herbs.

Andy opened the cabinet, for a moment overwhelmed by the variety of dried leaves, bark, roots, berries, and fungi contained on its shelves. He took a deep breath and tried to remember his training. Hanzo had insisted that both Andy and Mai learn how to heal injuries as well as inflict them. Andy had been more interested in learning how to hurt, since he believed this would be more useful to him in his quest to kill Geese Howard.

Now Andy wished he had paid more attention to those lessons on healing. After taking another deep breath, Andy selected a few leaves and a small piece of bark, then ground them up with a mortar and pestle while a pot of broth heated on the stove. When the broth was boiling, Andy mixed the powdered herbs in with it. Then he poured some into a ceramic cup, selected a few more things from the cabinet, loaded them onto a tray, and made his way back to the bedroom.

Mai was still lying on the bed, in the same position that Andy had left her in. He made a medicinal salve by mixing a few drops of water with some ground up root, and applied it generously to Mai's welts; he placed a cold compress of gauze dipped in water and some berry juices over the purple bruise on her face, then fed her the cup of broth infused with the healing herbs. That done, he tucked Mai into bed, pulling the heavy blanket up to her chin. He also removed her treasured hairpin, so Mai wouldn't poke herself in her sleep. Then he took off his own kimono and got in bed next to Mai.

An hour later, and Andy found that he couldn't sleep. Next to him, Mai was resting, courtesy of the drowsiness induced by the herbs in her broth, but it was not a peaceful sleep. Her eyes moved rapidly beneath their closed lids. Her head would occasionally jerk from side to side, and sometimes a moan of despair would escape her lips. "No..." She muttered softly. "Andy... I'm sorry... please don't leave..."

When he heard those words, Andy could guess what she was dreaming about, and his heart ached for her. He remembered what she had said earlier. He'd never heard Mai talk like that before, and it hurt him deeply that she would ever think he'd stop loving her, just because she had lost a fight, even a fight as important as this one had been.

Andy reached over in the dark, placed his hand gently over Mai's, and whispered into her ear: "I love you, Mai. I'm never going to leave you. Never. I'm staying right here, no matter what. Please... feel better. It hurts me to see you so unhappy. So, don't let yourself give up because of what happened today. Pick yourself up and come back to me. I promise that I'll never stop loving you."

He leaned in, then, brushed his lips tenderly over her own, their mouths only just touching like butterfly wings, and then lay back on his own pillow. But it would still be a few more hours before Andy finally fell asleep.

* * *

The moment she had been waiting for since her freshman year in high school was finally upon her. The church was packed with family and friends, and all eyes were on Mai Shiranui as she stood before the altar with the only man she had ever loved, would ever love.

Mai was a vision of absolute beauty in her bridal gown, and she smiled warmly at Andy in his powder-blue tuxedo, her luminous brown eyes aglow with the light of love. Andy smiled back as he lifted the veil from Mai's face, his own eyes radiating that same love.

"Andy," the priest spoke. "Do you take this woman, Mai, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, forsaking all others until death do you part?"

A tear of happiness gleamed in the corner of the kunoichi's eye. Andy opened his mouth and spoke: "I don't." That tear quickly changed into one of sadness as it slid down Mai's face, followed quickly by a few more.

Mai's mouth came open in disbelief. The look of love on Andy's face was gone now, replaced by his usual stoic visage. She was so shocked she could not form words. So Andy continued on: "I only wanted to marry you because I thought you were the number one kunoichi in Japan. But you lost both the honor duel to your cousin, _and_ your family's dojo. Clearly, you aren't number one. So why do you think I would still want to marry you?"

"Seriously," Terry Bogard, who was standing behind his brother, spoke up. "A failure like you isn't worthy of his love."

"You're weak," said Mai's maid of honor, Mary Ryan. "You always have been. So what makes you think you'd be worthy of his love? Or the love of your friends?"

Mai could no longer stand, and had sank to her knees before the altar. She was a pitiful sight as the tears streamed down her face, streaking her makeup. "No," she whispered pleadingly. "I'm sorry, Andy. I'm sorry I failed, but... I can do better. I know I can!" She looked up at him, and folded her hands in front of her. "I'm begging you... please don't leave me. I can prove myself worthy, if you just give me another chance! Please! I love you!"

Andy shook his head, his blue eyes like ice, devoid of pity. "But I don't love _you_. Not anymore. I don't waste time with losers. And the fact that you're begging shows me just how pathetic you really are. Goodbye forever, Mai." With that, he turned and started to walk back up the aisle. Terry and Mary followed him a few seconds later, leaving Mai alone.

The guests assembled in the pews were starting to jeer at her now, throwing insults and telling her that Andy had done the right thing to leave her. Mai's head sank to the floor of the church, and she wept bitterly.

"Please come back, Andy!" She sobbed. "I'm sorry I failed, but I can do better. I know I can, just give me another chance! Please... please don't go..."

* * *

Mai sat up in bed with a start. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer against her ribcage, and the sheet underneath her was soaked in sweat. Next to her, Andy moaned a little in his sleep, but did not wake up.

She shivered a little as the cool night air hit the sweat on her skin, so she rose from the bed and donned her bathrobe, which was draped over the chair in front of her vanity. Her movements were stiff and awkward, as her entire body still ached from the duel earlier.

 _The duel I lost,_ she thought bitterly. She cast a look back to the futon, at the dozing form of her fiance. Andy's own sleep appeared about as restful as her's: his brow was furrowed, and she could tell he was grinding his molars again, which he hadn't done in a very long time.

 _He's having a bad sleep because of me,_ she thought. _Because I failed._ Watching him now only reminded her of the dream she'd just had, and Mai could feel the cold sweat on her brow again. She went into the bathroom, stepped up to the sink, and gingerly peeled away the bandage on her cheek.

The ninja girl winced as she touched her fingertips to the dark purple bruise underneath. The healing compresses would prevent it from swelling, but it would be a while before it faded completely. _Hurts, but it will heal. There are some other hurts that probably won't._

Mai splashed cold water on her face, then dabbed herself dry with a hand towel. She left the bathroom, but did not feel like going back to bed just yet. So instead, she made her way to the kitchen. The first thing she noticed when she snapped on the light was that Andy had not put away the pot of broth from earlier. _Typical of him_ , she thought. _Except for spaghetti and natto, he's completely inept in the kitchen._ She poured the remaining broth into a Tupperware container, then snapped on the lid and put the container in the fridge.

She stood there for a moment with the door open, looking at the food on the shelves. Mai hadn't eaten anything solid since breakfast that morning, but she found that she was currently lacking an appetite. In fact, she wondered if she would ever be hungry again. She closed the fridge door, and after getting herself a drink of water from the sink, she started back towards the bedroom.

On her way, she passed by the doorway to the reading room. Her eyes were accustomed to the darkness, and Mai could clearly see her grandfather's favorite chair, which Mai had been preserving since Hanzo's death. She thought about how she would soon have to say goodbye to it, and a few of his other old possessions that she'd been looking after, largely because preserving them made it feel like he was still with her, in some way.

This thought reminded her of why she would soon have to leave them behind. Mai sank to the ground, huddled up on the hardwood floor with her head against her knees, and began to cry as she once again remembered her loss to Nobutoki.

 _All that training, and I couldn't even defend my rightful claim to this place. I gambled everything, and lost. You should never have made me master, Ojisama. I was a foolish girl who thought she could play with the boys._ Through the teary haze of her vision, she imagined the spirit of her grandfather sitting in that chair. Mai wondered: if he were here now, would he say how ashamed he was of her? _Probably. And it's what I deserve. He always said that the master must appear strong, at all times. Today, I was a weakling. A weak little girl who doesn't deserve his love, or his respect._

The ninja girl's muscles were still tight from fatigue, so Mai finally forced herself to stand up and walk back to the bedroom. Once there, she slipped off her robe and got back into bed next to Andy. Normally, when she was feeling bad, she would find comfort by snuggling up against him in the dark, but tonight Mai felt that she didn't deserve that comfort.

 _I don't deserve his love, either._ Instead, she lay closer to the edge of the bed, facedown in the mattress with the pillow over her head, so Andy could not hear her weep. An hour later, she had no more tears left to cry, and she was tired, _so_ tired both physically and spiritually, but she would still lay awake until sunrise, before sleep finally claimed her again...

* * *

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Okay... I think this might be the most depressing thing I've ever written. Mai's dream in particular was really hard to both write and proofread. But at the same time, it's a wonderful challenge writing depressed Mai, because when is Mai _EVER_ depressed?

Hope to have another chapter up soon. For those still reading, thanks for sticking with it. Like I said, there's a happy ending to it. I promise!

Please feel free to review and let me know how I'm doing!


	2. Chapter 2

All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the anime.

* * *

 _Chapter Two_

When Mai Shiranui next opened her eyes, it was after noon. She groaned as she rolled over onto her back, partly from the pain that still wracked her entire body, and partly from the deeper scars still afflicting her heart. She hadn't had any dreams when she had fallen back to sleep, which disappointed her. _I don't deserve to sleep peacefully. I_ should _have more bad dreams, to remind me of what a failure I am_.

As she lay there, Mai lifted up the sheet and looked down at her body. Andy had reapplied the salve to her wounds while she had slept. There were still angry red welts on her skin, but the bumps were starting to go down. _I don't deserve to have him taking such good care of me_ , _either_ , she thought bitterly. _I don't deserve anything good._

Though she was not sleepy, she still lay on her back on the futon, staring up at the ceiling. There were several things she probably could have been doing, but Mai just couldn't muster the will to get out of bed, except to answer the call of nature.

After about an hour, the fusuma slid open and Andy Bogard entered the room. He was dressed in his fighting dogi, and was dabbing at the sweat on his face with a small towel. Obviously he had just come from the gym. Mai glanced over at him and gave a small nod, then she resumed staring at the ceiling. Seeing him in the doorway, she actually felt a momentary flash of anger, even though she knew it was unreasonable. _How can he just be going normally about his day when he knows our lives here are over? He's always been slow, but is he really_ THAT _slow?_

"I'm glad you're finally awake," Andy said. "I see the compress is working. Your cheek isn't swollen. How are you feeling?"

"How do you think?" Mai asked him, still looking up. Her voice sounded a little harsh, due to the burst of anger she'd felt a moment ago, but Andy seemed to take it in stride. "Everything hurts," Mai then added, a little more calm this time.

Andy walked to her bedside, got down on one knee, and lifted the blankets. He ran his fingers gently over a few of the welts on her arm, satisfied that the bumps appeared to be going down. "One more application and these should disappear completely," he said, trying to keep his voice cheery. "If you're still feeling sore, though, I can... give you a massage?"

"No, I don't deserve to have you taking such good care of me," Mai spoke softly, saying out loud what she'd been thinking earlier.

Andy seemed taken aback by this. "But I _like_ to give you massages. I know I definitely don't give them as good as you, but... it will still help get some of the tension out of your muscles."

Mai saw the light of caring in Andy's bright blue eyes, caring that she did not feel worthy of. She rolled onto her left side, turning her back to him. "You don't have to waste so much time and effort on me."

"It's not a waste, Mai," Andy insisted. "It's the least I can do. I mean, when we were teenagers, you always took great care of _me_ every time I pushed myself too hard on the practice field. I know I always tried to act tough, and push you away to stop you from fawning over me, but deep down, I really was touched that you cared enough about me to be so concerned. I just... well, you know my reasons for wanting to keep you at a distance back then."

Mai wished that Andy hadn't mentioned their childhood. It reminded her of happier times, when her grandfather was still with them, was still the master, and the dojo still belonged to her immediate family. A time before Mai had ruined things by failing Hanzo. Tears started to spring from her eyes, running down her face and onto the pillow.

"I'm fine, Andy," Mai said, managing to stifle her sobs. "I just... need to rest here a while longer."

"Okay," Andy said, though he didn't sound convinced. "Um... can I bring you something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Okay. Well, let me know if you change your mind. I'm going to have a shower." With that, Andy rose, stripped off his dogi, and made his way to the master bathroom.

Mai spent the rest of the day in bed, getting up only to use the bathroom, or to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Physically, she was okay. Mentally, she lacked the will to want to do anything. She didn't see the point, anyway. Everything in this dojo, including the Shiranui scrolls, now belonged to her clan. Being up and about around the house would only remind her of that.

Andy could tell that there was no physical reason for Mai to still be in bed, but he kept his mouth shut. He remembered how he had felt after his father was murdered. When Jeff Bogard had adopted him and Terry, it felt like Andy had finally found a real home. Then Geese Howard had taken that away, and Master Tung had told the two newly re-orphaned boys that if they wanted to get justice for Jeff's murder, they would have to leave their home for the next ten years, and continue their training outside of South Town.

Andy already knew how much it hurt to lose your home, how scary it was to be stripped of everything you found familiar. So he felt the best course of action was to let Mai mope. Eventually, she would get it out of her system and bounce back, just as Andy had needed to as a boy. _Mai has always had an incredible spirit. She'll power through this. I know she will._

By evening time, however, Mai still hadn't gotten out of bed, and had once more refused Andy's offer to bring her some food, or to massage her. So Andy, realizing that he was on his own for dinner, decided to fix himself spaghetti and natto, as it was the only thing he knew how to cook. He was almost done preparing it when Mai entered the kitchen. Thankfully, she had put on a white slip this time. Earlier that day, when she'd come into the kitchen for some water, she was still dressed only in her underwear, which Andy had been rather vocal about. Now, Mai said nothing as she crossed to the refrigerator, and pulled out the container of broth from last night.

"Your skin looks better," Andy remarked. "Did you put more salve on the welts?"

"Yes," Mai said flatly. Her voice still had none of the perkiness it normally did. It was almost robotic, something Andy wasn't used to hearing in his fiancee. Mai said nothing more as she poured some broth into a ceramic mug and stuck it in the microwave.

Andy rose from his seat at the table, crossed over to Mai, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Mai... do you think it's wise to drink that? It'll make you drowsy, and you haven't eaten anything solid all day."

Mai shrugged off his hand. "I'll be fine, Andy. Frankly, I prefer to be asleep right now." Her voice was still flat.

For a few moments, Andy stood behind her, uncertain as to whether he should say or do anything more. Then there was a loud _ding_ from the microwave as the broth finished heating. Mai took the steaming cup from the microwave, and then left the kitchen to go back to the bedroom. Andy stared sadly at the kitchen doorway for a moment, then shook his head and finished preparing his own dinner.

* * *

The following day was Monday, and Andy overslept a little, since he'd had trouble falling asleep again the night before. The broth Mai drank had conked her out, but she still moaned and tossed next to him on the futon. At one point, Andy had seen tears in the corners of her eyes, as the nightmares became too dark. Andy had tried the same thing he'd done the night before, holding Mai's hand while she slept, and whispering to her how much he loved her, and would always stand by her. He couldn't tell if it helped her, but he also couldn't just lie there without trying _something_.

Mai was still asleep when Andy awoke, so Andy let her be as he went to the gym to practice his Ninjitsu. He missed having Mai to spar with. Ever since he'd started living here again after the Dead Sea Incident, having Mai as a regular sparring partner had helped him, or at least that's what it felt like. At the rate they were progressing by working together, Andy was starting to think his victory over Terry might be attainable within a few years.

 _But I can't think about that now_ , he thought as he started on his forms. It felt a little selfish, considering the reason that Mai chose not to join him for practice.

As with yesterday, Mai spent all morning in bed, and ate very little except some miso soup, and even then it was just a few bites. By the time that afternoon rolled around, Andy knew that Mai would have to get up soon, because the students they'd managed to acquire over the last month would soon be showing up for class, and they had no idea what had transpired on Saturday.

"Come on, Mai," Andy nudged her a little as he spoke. "Our students will be arriving soon. We still have a class to teach, and we have to tell them... about certain things."

"I'm not fit to be a sensei, Andy," Mai grumbled. "I think I've proven that. I'm a failure. I couldn't even win one stupid honor duel. If I try to teach anyone, they'll wind up as failures, just like me."

"But you like teaching Ninjitsu, Mai. Ever since we opened our doors to students last month, you keep telling me how it makes you feel like your grandfather is still with us."

Mai rose up suddenly and punched the wall behind their futon in a sudden burst of anger. "If my grandfather _were_ still with us, he'd probably want nothing to do with me. He made me the master, and I lost _everything_ in a matter of months. I'm not worthy to be a teacher, and I'm not worthy to call myself a Shiranui."

Andy placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Mai. Don't talk like that. You'll always be Hanzo's granddaughter, and I know he'd still be proud of you. Besides, until your clan gets here this Saturday, we still have a responsibility to our kohai. Remember what Hanzo-sensei said: if the students are willing to do the work, then the master must be willing to make them."

Mai shrugged his hand off and collapsed back onto the futon. "If it's so important to you, then _you_ teach the fucking class. You're better than me, anyway."

Andy gave a resigned sigh, but in the end, he changed into his fighting dogi, and went to the gym to prepare for the arrival of their students, several of whom were coming straight from school.

After the kohai had arrived, changed into their own dogi and assembled in the gym, Andy entered to greet them. Some of the students looked confused or disappointed that Mai was not with him, but they still bowed anyway. Andy bowed back and motioned for them to sit. Andy then announced: "So, I have some bad news. I'm afraid that the dojo will be getting some new sensei after next Saturday. Mai-sensei and I will no longer be here. I don't have any more details, other than to say that classes will likely be on hiatus next week while the new master settles in."

One of the students raised his hand. "What happened to Mai-sensei?"

Andy paused before answering slowly: "Mai-sensei... was hurt, I'm afraid. She's resting today, but she's all right. But sadly, because of what hurt her, she won't be sensei anymore after this Saturday. And neither will I."

Another student raised his hand. "Will the new sensei be as sexy as Mai-sensei?"

The rest of the kohai chortled, and Andy felt his temper rising. "You know what?" He blurted out, suddenly losing all desire to teach. "Class is cancelled for the rest of the week while the dojo changes ownership. There's a lot Mai-sensei and I have to do to get ready for that. Thank you all for coming."

Andy bowed his head, and although there were several grunts of disappointment from all assembled, the students still rose and bowed their heads as well, then turned and started to trickle out of the gym. Except for the boy who had just asked his rude question.

Andy walked closer to the boy and addressed him sternly: "When the sensei bows, it is respectful for the kohai to stand and bow back."

The boy rose to his feet but did not bow. "You're not even one of us," he said with a smirk. "Just a hakujin."

Andy extended his left arm towards the ground, and launched a Hishou-ken that scorched the tatami mat just inches from the boy's feet. The boy jumped back, having felt the heat of the blast, his smirk instantly replaced by a look of fear. "You should thank your lucky stars that _my_ sensei is no longer with us," Andy snapped at him. "If you had ever shown _him_ this level of disrespect, he'd have cracked your head wide open! Now get out and never come back!"

The boy turned and walked out as quickly as he could, which was awkward for him, since a dark stain had appeared in the crotch of his trousers. After the boy was gone, Andy blew a large breath out through his nostrils, then folded his hands in front of his chest, tried to re-focus his energies. A part of him regretted using that much force against the boy, but then he reminded himself that this time next week, he and Mai would be gone. _Besides, I was right. Hanzo-sensei would_ never _have taken that kind of disrespect from a student. Not without dishing out some serious hurt._

Andy imagined Hanzo's spirit smiling down at him, and he allowed himself a small smile for the first time in days. He spent the next few hours meditating and going through some of his katas. By the time he was finished, it was dusk, and he found himself thinking about how little Mai had eaten over the last two days.

So Andy grabbed a shower, changed into street clothes, took a walk down to one of the restaurants Mai liked, and got an order of yakisoba to go. A short time later, he was back at the dojo, and seated on the floor next to her side of the futon with a steaming bowlful. "I brought you some food," Andy said. "I know you love this dish."

"I'm not hungry," Mai said with a weary sigh.

Andy picked up a generous bite of fried chicken, noodles, and shredded cabbage with the chopsticks, and offered it to Mai. But the ninja girl did not even open her mouth.

"Please eat, Mai," Andy said. "Come on, you've had nothing solid to eat since Saturday morning. You need your strength."

He held the food an inch from Mai's lips, but Mai turned her head away from him, like a finicky child.

"What's the point?" She grumbled. "I'm _not_ strong. I've never been strong enough. I couldn't beat Hauer or Laurence Blood, and got my useless ass captured both times. I couldn't defend my rightful claim to this dojo, which grandfather trusted me with. I barely had it for a year before I stupidly lost it in a duel I had no business fighting. It's not like eating will somehow make me strong enough to fix any of that. Maybe Nobutoki was right. Being a ninja is a man's world. A weak, useless girl like me should never have studied the arts."

Andy put the chopsticks down and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Don't say that and don't think it, Mai. Deep down, I know you don't believe that. You love practicing Ninjitsu, you always will. And you've saved me just as much as I've saved you. I would be dead if you hadn't stopped Billy Kane, remember? And... you rescued yourself from Geese, without my help. You've always been a great ninja, better than most of the men in your clan. You know it, I know it, and... your grandfather always knew it, too."

"But I wasn't great enough to defend his legacy. When it came time for me to step up and prove that I'm the master, I failed him. So how exactly does that make me great? It doesn't!" Once more, Andy saw Mai's eyes were starting to water. He reached up to brush away her tears, but Mai flinched back from his touch. "Leave me alone," she said flatly.

Andy shook his head sadly, but in the end, he set the dish of yakisoba down on the floor next to the futon. "In case you change your mind," he said. Then he rose and left the bedroom.

He spent the next hour working out in the gym, and when he checked in on Mai, she was lying down with the blanket pulled completely over her. She had not touched the food, so Andy took the bowl back to the kitchen, covered it, and put it in the fridge. He warmed up some natto over spaghetti for himself, and then went to bed after eating. Once again, he was up for several hours, feeling Mai toss and turn next to him, caught in the throes of yet another troubled dream.

 _What is it tonight?_ Andy thought. _Is she dreaming that I'm taking her ring back and leaving her? Or is it the spirits of her family, telling her how disappointed they are in her, and no longer consider her worthy of their love?_ Both of these had plagued Mai ever since her loss to Nobutoki, Andy could tell by the things Mai was saying in her sleep, as she begged her fiancé or the phantom of her grandfather for forgiveness she didn't need. He thought about waking her, but she would just have a new nightmare when she fell back to sleep again, and also, he didn't know what else to say to her. Andy was trying everything he could think of, but nothing was working, and he was starting to run out of ideas.

This was probably why when he awoke the next morning, he decided to take a "tougher" approach, since coaxing her hadn't been effective.

"Come on, Mai," Andy snapped. "Your clan is coming Saturday, and you're still the master of this place until then. We have work to do before they get here."

"But I'm _not_ the master, Andy," Mai snapped back. "My cousin saw to that. And let's face it, I was a lousy master, anyway. I didn't hold onto this place very long before I lost it in a duel. Ojisama trusted me with his legacy, and I failed him. I don't deserve to be called master of anything."

"But isn't there anything here you want to take with you?" Andy asked.

Mai shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, the clan can keep everything in this place. It's all theirs, anyway, remember?"

"But, Mai," Andy insisted. "The night before your duel, you said that your clan probably won't care if you want to take old baubles or keepsakes that used to belong to your family, or say, things like your grandfather's chair. Their interest is only in Hanzo-sensei's books and scrolls..." Andy's voice trailed off, and he groaned inwardly as he realized he had mentioned the wrong thing.

Sure enough, Mai looked like she was about to start crying again. "You just had to mention that, didn't you? Do you _like_ reminding me of what a failure I am?"

"No, Mai, I wasn't trying to do that. I don't think you're a failure. I'm just trying to make you feel better..."

"Well, maybe you should stop trying," Mai snapped at him. "You clearly suck at it. And you're wrong. I _am_ a failure. I've lost my family's home, and I've lost my clan's scrolls, which Ojisama trusted me to preserve. I was supposed to pass that knowledge on to our children someday. Centuries of tradition are over now, thanks to me. If Ojisama were here he'd be ashamed of me. And if you had any brains, you'd be ashamed of me, too." She turned away from him again, started to cry. Andy reached a hand out for her, but before he could touch her, he heard Mai say blankly: "Just leave me alone."

With a sad sigh, Andy rose from the bed and tried to start his day. He wasn't very hungry, so he decided to go for a jog through the woods. He'd been running about a mile when he came to a familiar spot: a small clearing in the trees that provided a nice view of Mino down below. When he was a boy, Hanzo would sometimes bring him to this spot to practice the beginner's forms of Ninjitsu.

Andy had come back here last year, when Mai and the rest of her clan had been performing the bone-picking ceremony on Hanzo's cremated remains. Andy had elected to make himself scarce for that, and had hiked up to this spot with a small statue of the Buddha and some sticks of incense. The younger Bogard had spent several hours up here, mourning privately for his sensei and praying for Hanzo's spirit. Now Andy stood at the edge of this clearing and once more folded his hands. _Sensei,_ he thought to himself. _If your spirit can hear this, then please... what can I do to help your granddaughter? Mai needs my help now more than ever. You and I both know what a strong woman she really is. How can I make her see that again? Please, just give me a sign..._

Andy wasn't expecting an answer, but still felt disappointed when several minutes passed, and he didn't seem to get the sign he'd prayed for. All the anger and frustration he'd been trying to keep inside himself for Mai's sake finally got the best of him, and Andy was filled with the overwhelming urge to hit something. So he put on a pair of sparring gloves, found a large tree nearby, and started to punch its trunk in a steady rhythm, first with the palm of one hand, then the other, back and forth in a fluid motion.

It was simple. Fighting always was. When you were in the ring with an opponent, you just had to hit them as hard as you could with the right moves, before they did the same to you. Simple. Being in a relationship... was certainly the opposite.

The trunk of the tree started to crack and splinter as Andy vented all of his frustrations over the last few days, using that rage to put as much power as he could into his strikes. He was starting to think that maybe he had been premature in proposing to Mai. If he couldn't even find the right words to make Mai feel better... maybe he wasn't ready to be a husband.

 _You're not the failure, Mai,_ he thought as he struck the tree even harder. _I am. If I were anything like Terry, I'd have already found the answer, and would know exactly what to say to get you out of your funk. But I'm not. I'll never be that good._ In a sudden flash of anger, Andy did a flip backwards and launched forward elbow first in a Zan-Ei-Ken. His attack slammed into the weakened part of the trunk, snapping it clean in half and knocking the tree onto its side.

Andy gave the newly-formed stump one last kick, then jogged back to the dojo and microwaved some leftover rice balls and miso soup for breakfast. By the time he was finished eating, his anger at himself had subsided just a little. Enough for him to realize that he was going to need some advice from an outside source if he wanted to get Mai out of her depression. His brother was the most logical choice, since Terry Bogard had gone through a similar depression after losing to Krauser.

However, he got an answering machine when he called Terry, so Andy hung up without leaving a message. He sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out who to call next. Joe knew lots about how to pick up women, but not a lot on how to hold onto one for longer than a few weeks. Master Jubei had known Hanzo longer than any of them, but Andy wasn't sure Mai would want to hear a pep talk from someone who tried to molest her on a regular basis every time she visited his dojo. Kim Kaphwan was married and thus might be able to provide some useful insight. But for some reason, Andy decided that he wanted a female perspective. He pulled a business card out of one of the kitchen drawers, picked up the phone from its cradle on the wall and started to dial the number on the card.

The phone was answered on the second ring. "Blue Mary Investigations," said the voice on the other end. "There's no case too big or small. How can I assist you today?"

"Um, hi, Mary," Andy said after a moment of silence. He'd never heard Mary answer a phone like that before. It was... definitely different.

"Andy?" The detective did not even try to hide the incredulity in her voice, as she normally would have. "Well, this is a first, you calling _me_. Is the world ending?"

Andy couldn't help but smile faintly at that. He didn't dislike Terry's girlfriend. He just didn't talk to her much because other than the fact that they both loved fighting, he'd just never found any other common ground. That, and Mary's personality was the exact opposite of Mai's. Mai, he'd learned to handle, for the most part. Mary was also spirited, but in a much different way, one that was somehow more intimidating than Mai's bubbly enthusiasm. "Oh, well, I called Terry but his answering machine said he's on a training journey and won't be back until next month."

"So I was your rebound?" Mary said with a laugh. "I'm honored."

"Oh, well, if you're busy, I can... try to reach out to Joe or Kim..."

The detective laughed even louder. "I'm messing with you, Andy," she said. "Seriously, what's up? You sound like you have a problem. You and Mai have another fight?"

Andy then explained everything that had happened at the temple a few days ago, and its effects on his fiancée. How the overly cheery, bouncy ninja girl had changed into a completely different person after the fight, one that Andy did not recognize, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to do anything for her. After Andy had finished, Mary was silent for a moment. Then she spoke: "I'm very sorry to hear that you two are losing your home. You'll have a place you can stay, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'm not worried about that," said Andy. "We're moving to South Town, and I figure we can crash at Terry's place until we find our own. It's Mai I'm worried about the most. I've tried talking to her, but nothing I say seems to be getting through."

"It is getting through, Andy," Mary said. "The thing is, Mai already _knows_ how you feel about her. She thinks that she's failed her grandfather, a man that she loved and respected very much, and still does, and that Hanzo would be ashamed of her. So the person she _needs_ to talk to is Hanzo."

For a moment, Andy tried to process those words. Obviously Mai couldn't really talk to her grandfather. So was Mary actually suggesting Andy hold a seance? Would that even work?

On the other end, Mary could tell by Andy's silence what he was thinking, and laughed. "No, Andy, I'm not telling you to hold a seance. Try to stay grounded, will you?"

"Then what are you saying?" Andy asked her.

"There are other ways Mai can speak to him," explained Mary. "Mai told me once about a letter he wrote her shortly before he died. Does she still have it? I can tell you from experience that reading something written by a loved one after they've passed can be like them speaking to you from beyond the grave."

"Yeah," Andy said. "She kept the letter. But how can..." then he remembered the words of kindness and love Hanzo had written in that letter, and how Mai had not found and read it until long after his ashes were in the ground. He remembered how he was actually a little envious of Mai when she'd showed it to him. Andy had never bothered to save anything Jeff Bogard had written him, not even birthday or holiday cards, because he'd felt they wouldn't help him in his plan for revenge. He regretted that now, because it would have been nice to read words from his father similar to what was in Hanzo's letter...

...And he suddenly knew exactly how to help Mai. "Sorry, Mary, but I have to go talk to Mai. I... I know what to do now. At least, I hope so."

"Sure, Andy," Mary spoke on the other end. "Glad I could help you find the answer. But if it doesn't work, I'm happy to fly over and knock some sense into her."

Knowing Mary, that probably wasn't a joke, but Andy laughed anyway. "Thanks. Take care." Then he hung up and made his way back to the master bedroom.

The fusuma was shut, and Andy slid it open very slowly. Mai was lying on her side on the futon, her back to him. If she was awake, she did not turn to acknowledge that Andy had entered the room.

Andy stepped over to Mai's dresser, and found the letter folded up in front of her favorite picture of her grandfather: him holding her on his knee when she was five. Andy took the letter and made his way over to the futon. He climbed onto his side of the mattress, moved into a sitting position on his shins and then cleared his throat. "Mai..."

"I said leave me alone, Andy," he heard her voice say faintly.

"Okay," Andy said. "I have just one thing to tell you and then I promise I'll leave you alone. Look at me, please."

"Just go away," Mai grumbled. "I don't want to hear any more pep talks. It won't change the fact that I failed..."

"Look at me," Andy repeated more firmly.

Mai was surprised by the authority in her fiancé's voice. She was not used to hearing it from him. So she did as he asked.

As Mai turned to face him, Andy had to stop himself from wincing. Her beautiful brown eyes were swollen and bloodshot from crying, with dark circles underneath them. Her bright, copper-colored hair was undone from its normal ponytail, and hadn't been washed in days, trailing down her back in a disorganized tangle. The bruise was still on her face, though thanks to the compresses it had faded from purple to a shade of blue. But that was not why Andy suppressed a flinch. He always thought Mai looked beautiful even when she was a mess. It was the fact that the sparkle in her eyes had faded, which said that inside, Mai's normally vivacious spirit, the most beautiful part of her, had been thoroughly crushed, leaving Mai an empty shell of the woman Andy had fallen in love with.

 _Well, maybe this will revive that beautiful fighting spirit of hers. I hope._ Once Mai was facing him, Andy held Hanzo's letter out to her. "Read the last few lines of this letter," he told her.

Mai propped herself up on her elbow, and took the letter. "Ojisama's letter?" She asked him, confusion lining her forehead. "But what good will that..."

"Please, just read them," Andy repeated.

Once again, Mai was stunned by the firmness of Andy's tone. So she opened it and read silently to herself: _You have grown into a fine ninja, and a clever, strong-willed, beautiful young woman. You made me proud every day, dear one. I know you will continue to do so, as long as you keep following your heart._

After she was done, Mai folded the letter and placed it on her nightstand. "Okay, I've read them, Andy," she said. "Now what?"

Andy took a deep breath. "Mai... you didn't find and read that letter until after Hanzo-sensei had passed on. So those words... are like him talking to you from beyond the grave. And he said that as long as you follow your heart, he'll always be proud of you. Mai... why did you say yes when I asked you to marry me?"

"Because I love you, obviously," Mai said, starting to sound annoyed. "What does that have to do with this?"

"You said yes because your heart told you it was the right thing to do?" Andy asked her.

"Yes, of course," said Mai. "But what..."

"Please, Mai, let me finish what I have to say. You've... always been true to your heart, even though it went against the rest of your clan. You could have kept this place if you just went against your heart, and called the engagement off. But you didn't. Even with the rest of your clan against you, you still followed your heart, and even though you lost the duel, you saw the path you chose through to its end. And that's... what Master Hanzo always tried to teach us. To stand up for what we believe in, even if no one else does.

"You've stayed faithful to what your heart wanted, regardless of what it cost you. So... according to your grandfather's own words, he's not ashamed of you. He's proud of you, for making the choice your heart told you to make, and standing by it. If he were here today, I think he would only be ashamed of you for loafing around in bed wallowing in self-pity. Because that's not who you are. He knew, and I know that you're stronger than that.

"The Mai that I grew up with always picked herself up and fought harder, no matter how many times she got knocked down in practice matches. The Mai that I know put twice as much effort into her training after what happened in China, because she was tired of being captured, and never wanted to feel helpless again. The Mai I know has always strived to be number one in this country. You lost the other day, but you're still the granddaughter of Hanzo Shiranui. You're a strong, independent woman, and your clan can never take that away from you. You'll pick yourself up from this, just like I know you can. Because to me, you'll always be number one.

"Hanzo... would still be proud of you, Mai. You just read proof of that. And... that's all I wanted to say."

Mai was sitting up now in the same position as Andy. Her hands rested demurely on her knees, and her head was tilted down, her brown eyes shut. For a few moments, she was silent. Andy was about to get up and go when he saw that tears were starting to trickle out through the cracks in Mai's eyelids. There were only a few at first, then they quickly increased in volume, spilling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin onto the fabric of the slip that she wore.

 _Oh god, did I just make things worse?_ Andy thought. What should he do now? Try to comfort her? Would Mai push him away if he tried that? Should he just leave? "Mai, I'm sorry," Andy spoke softly. "I... I didn't mean to make you..."

Before Andy could say anything else, Mai threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled Andy close to her, clinging to him almost desperately. Tears continued streaming down her cheeks as she peppered Andy's face with an onslaught of soft kisses.

"I love you so much," Mai said finally. "You sweet, wonderful man." Then she pressed her lips firmly to Andy's. Andy was too surprised to kiss back, and just sat there with his eyes wide open as Mai sucked his face, pulling away a few seconds later with a wet smack. She then buried her face in his shirt and spent a few more minutes crying. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around him, threatening to cut off his circulation, but Andy just sat there and let Mai do what she needed to get through this.

Finally, Mai sat up again, and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Thank you, Andy," she said, a smile creeping back onto her face. "Thank you for telling me exactly what I needed to hear. You're right. I don't know why I couldn't see it before. Ojisama wouldn't be ashamed of me for losing this place. If he were here now, he'd just tell me to get out of this stupid bed and get on with my life." Her eyes began to shine with tears again. "Oh, Andy, I'm so sorry. I've been acting like such a stupid, selfish child these last few days. And I've said terrible things to you, things that I didn't mean... Can you ever forgive me?"

Now it was Andy's turn to move forward and wrap his arms around Mai. "Of course I forgive you," he whispered in the ninja girl's ear as he stroked her hair. "I know you didn't mean what you said. I'm just happy to have the old Mai back. I... I was really starting to miss her."

After they had let each other go, Mai giggled and put her hands on Andy's shoulders. "We'll see if you're still saying that in a few hours, Andy. We have a lot to do, a short time to do it in, and we'll need to work serious overtime to make up for the days I wasted." They then heard a loud growling noise, and after a moment Mai realized it was coming from her. She looked down and put a hand over her belly. "But first things first... do we have any food in the fridge? I am _starving_."

Andy nodded. "Yeah. I've been cooking natto and spaghetti these last few days because I don't know how to make anything else, but we have leftover takeout in there, too. There's that yakisoba from yesterday that you didn't eat. Do you want me to bring you some?"

Mai shook her head. "Not on your life, Andy. I'm not spending another minute in this bed. I'll get it myself." With that, she jumped off the futon and started towards the closet.

 _That's my girl,_ Andy thought as he smiled at his love.

Mai pulled a red yukata from the closet and put it on over her slip. "So first, something to eat," she said. "Then..." she paused, pulled up the sleeve of her robe, and sniffed the inside of her elbow. She made a face and covered herself up again. "Then... I need a very long, hot shower. I am _**ripe.**_ And after that, we've got work to do."

Andy laughed. "I'll be waiting."

"Andy..." Mai said. "You're going to be a great husband. You're better at solving problems than you give yourself credit for." She put her hands on her hips, then, regarding her fiancé almost critically. "Oh, and Andy... get out of bed. Are you gonna waste the whole day?" She giggled and winked at him, then left the bedroom at a brisk pace, that familiar bounce back in her steps.

"Welcome back, my love," Andy whispered softly as Mai departed, and then he got up off the futon. _Maybe I_ will _actually be a good husband, after all,_ he thought as he followed Mai to the kitchen. _Whether it's finding the right combination of moves to please Mai in bed, or the right combination of words to cheer her up, it seems like_ everything _is similar to fighting._ _It's all just about learning the right combinations..._

* * *

Mai was true to her word. About an hour later, Andy was sitting in the reading room, meditating on the couch, when he heard a knock on the frame of the doorway. He opened his eyes to see Mai standing there, looking clean and freshly scrubbed, her skin still glowing from her shower. She was dressed in a pair of jeans with rips in the knees, and an old, frayed t-shirt that bared her midriff, her go-to outfit when she was ready to do serious housework. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun with a bright pink kerchief knotted in place over it, and her arms were laden with cleaning supplies. "Let's get to work, Andy!" She said in her normal, cheerful voice.

"Whatever you say, Master Shiranui," Andy said as he rose to his feet.

Neither one of them got much of a break over the next few days. They cleaned the dojo from top to bottom, both inside and out. They made inventory of the things that they wanted to take with them, and packed them in boxes. The boxes were left open, however, as anything they _did_ want to take would have to be done with the approval of Mai's clan.

They arranged for air travel to the States, and paid a visit to the post office to let them know they were vacating their old address. This also meant they had to call as many people as possible in Mai's address book to give them their temporary mailing address when they got to America. They also brought a few of Hanzo's old books to their library and tied up the copy machine for an hour xeroxing pages out of them. At one point, Mai left the dojo for a few hours on "an errand," which was what she called it when Andy asked. Because of the determination in her voice, Andy didn't think to push Mai for more info. He simply used the time she was gone to get a much-needed nap.

As the deadline loomed closer, they realized that there was still a lot to do. So they put calls out to Jubei Yamada and Joe Higashi for extra help. Both of them had already been made aware of Mai's recent honor duel, and so they were eager to assist with cleaning and packing. After Joe had come down, they also rented a van to move the boxes, as Joe was the only one of the group who had a driver's license.

The night before the Shiranui clan was scheduled to arrive with their attorneys and the legal documents for Mai to sign, all that was left to do was to load the van, which could not be done until the clan inspected their boxes. So Mai and Andy decided to take Joe and Jubei out to dinner at a seafood restaurant in Mino which was one of Mai's favorites. The four of them managed to get a table back in the corner of the room, and shared a very nice, leisurely meal while reminiscing about the past: Jubei shared memories of Hanzo from their younger days, all four of them talked about the ten years Andy had spent growing up in Japan while preparing to fight Geese, and Andy, Mai and Joe discussed the adventures they'd had with Terry afterwards (or the good parts of them, anyway).

"I'm actually gonna miss you, Mai," Joe said shortly after they had finished dessert. "Who am I gonna argue with after you go?"

Mai smirked at him. "Knowing you, it won't take long to find a replacement, you big jerk." She held out her wine glass to him, and Joe clinked his beer bottle against it.

"I'll miss you too, Mai," her old judo master said. "You _and_ Andy. You'll always be number one in Japan, even if you're not here."

"Domo, sensei," Mai said with a small bow of her head. "It was a hard choice to make, but I feel like Andy and I will have more opportunities in South Town. If I stay here, I'm just a ninja heiress without a clan or a dojo. I don't need all the headaches that will give me. But Ojisama once said that no one ever truly leaves Japan. Everyone who comes here leaves a piece of their soul behind on this island. So that someday, they'll come back for it." She then reflected silently how that had been true for Andy a few years ago. When his training journey was over, Andy had not returned to South Town. He'd come back to this country instead. And someday, Mai would return, too.

She then went on to say: "And I've learned that home is more than just a building. It's a state of mind. And I have that with Andy. As long as he and I are together, I'll always be home, no matter where we live."

Andy smiled as he reached over and gave Mai's hand a gentle squeeze. Master Jubei reached for the sake bottle and refilled his cup. He then offered the bottle to the others at the table. "I would like to propose a toast. To my dear comrade Hanzo, the brother I should have had. And to his lovely granddaughter. And my... not as lovely, but still excellent student."

Mai laughed and shook her head. "I appreciate that, Master, but I can't take part in one of your sake toasts tonight. My clan is coming bright and early tomorrow and I want a clear head when I meet with them."

Jubei shook his head as he took a sip of his drink. "The gift of youth is wasted on this generation," he muttered. "Besides, if you _were_ hungover, it might make meeting with them easier. I know _I_ like to be hungover when I talk with your uncles."

Mai laughed. "I can't argue with _that_ , Master, but... no. I'll celebrate with the sake tomorrow night, _after_ I don't have to see or speak to them anymore."

"Well, _I'm_ not meeting with Mai's clan tomorrow, Master," Joe chimed up. "So pass the bottle."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Just so you know, if you two pass out, Andy and I aren't gonna carry you back to the dojo. We're just gonna let you sleep wherever you fall."

The four of them laughed, even though the look in her eyes told them that Mai was serious.

* * *

A few hours later, Andy and Mai were in their futon in the master bedroom. Their guests had thankfully made it home before passing out, Jubei on the futon in Andy's old room and Joe on the couch in the reading room.

Despite all the work they'd been doing the last few days, Andy found he couldn't sleep. Maybe it was because he knew this was their last night in this room, and he wanted to remember it.

"Andy?" He heard Mai whisper next to him in the dark. "Are you still up?"

Andy turned to face his fiancee. "Yes," he answered.

"Well, in that case..." Mai sat up in bed and took off the chamisole she was wearing. She then reached under the covers and started to wriggle out of her panties.

"Um, Mai," Andy said. "I may not be asleep, but I'm still pretty tired. I don't... think I can perform tonight."

Mai tossed her underwear to the floor and turned to face him. "That's okay, Andy, I'm too tired for sex also. I just... want you to hold me tonight. Please?"

Andy smiled and held his arms out to her. Mai eagerly spooned up alongside him and rested her head on his shoulder. Andy pulled the covers back over them both and wrapped the kunoichi in his embrace.

"Thank you, Andy," she whispered, and placed a small kiss on his neck. "I've missed snuggling my man."

"I've missed this, too," Andy said.

For a while, they were silent, Andy holding Mai while Mai relished the sensation of being in his arms. Then she whispered: "We belong to each other, Andy. I'm yours and you're mine. I'm sorry I ever doubted that. I'll never doubt it again."

"You don't have to apologize again, Mai," Andy told her. "I already forgave you. Besides, you're the only woman I'll ever love. If I lost you, I don't think I could ever bring myself to fall in love again. I'd probably just cash in my savings account and spend the rest of my life studying Ninjitsu in the mountains."

"If something were to happen to me, I wish you _would_ try to find love again at some point, but I'll take that as a compliment, Andy," Mai said.

"I'm glad," Andy whispered, starting to drift off from fatigue. "That's... how I meant it."

Mai giggled and gave Andy another kiss on the neck. "You're adorable, Andy," she said, and then yawned before continuing: "Don't ever change..." Shortly after saying these words, Mai finally fell asleep, safe and cozy in her lover's arms.

Andy wrapped his arms tighter around Mai, holding her almost protectively. He was not awake for much longer. The warmth of Mai's body so close, her breasts rubbing gently against him as they rose and fell in time with her breathing, the floral perfume of her hair, the soft tickle of her breath on his neck each time she exhaled... all of these were finally enough to make Andy fall asleep as well.

* * *

ADDITIONAL NOTES

I know it probably feels like I could end it here, but there's at least one more chapter left in me. Maybe two. Depends on whether I feel the need to split Chapter 3 up. I'll just have to see what the word count turns out to be. So up next: the revenge of Mai Shiranui (sort of), and _maybe_ the conclusion. Stay tuned...


	3. Chapter 3

All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games, or the anime.

* * *

 _Chapter Three_

As Mai said, the elders of the Shiranui clan arrived just as the sun started to break over the mountains of the horizon, coloring the dawn sky a peaceful blue, and glinting off the dew of the autumn foliage, setting the trees ablaze with deep red and orange. Andy and Mai were both standing in the courtyard to greet the clan, as Jubei and Joe were still sleeping off the sake from last night.

Mai's great uncles, Jirou and Saburo, walked at the head of the little group that crested the stone stair and entered through the wooden archway. They were followed by their wives, then Nobutoki, then a few other members of Mai's extended family. At the rear was a stuffy-looking Japanese man in a black suit and wire-rimmed glasses with a briefcase. One of the clan's attorneys, Mai assumed.

Both Jirou and Saburo were dressed in ceremonial kimonos, and as they got nearer to Mai and Andy, they frowned when they saw that Mai was not dressed the same. Instead, she wore a pair of blue jeans so tight they looked painted on, a red tube top, and a lavender blouse with the buttons left open. Mai had already packed her kimonos, along with most of her wardrobe.

She had done this on purpose, largely because she no longer cared about showing her uncles respect, since her clan had disowned her, and also because she hoped it would make them uncomfortable. She did, however, possess enough decorum to fold her hands and bow to them.

"Uncle Jirou," she said sweetly to the chief elder. "You're looking well this morning."

"The dojo looks surprisingly clean, Mai-san," Jirou remarked dryly.

"Yes, well, we tidied it up for you, but if that's not to your liking, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to dirty it by being here," Mai told him, her voice still dripping with honey.

The chief elder of her former clan gave a small grunt and a nod, clearly missing the double meaning of Mai's words. Andy stood stock still at Mai's side, summoning all his discipline to keep a straight face.

"You couldn't have dressed more appropriately?" Saburo asked Mai, also missing the insult in Mai's last response.

Mai gave a small shrug. "Well, as you and Uncle Jirou have pointed out, I've been infected by Western culture. And a doctor told me it's contagious, so you'd better not touch me, or it will get you too!"

This time, Andy gave a small snort of laughter before he regained control of himself and put a neutral face back on. Mai turned and gestured to the front door. "Shall we? I've prepared a sitting room for us. And there's tea, juice, toast, and onsen tamago in the kitchen if anyone hasn't had breakfast yet."

For a moment, Andy almost lost his poker face again. Mai had gotten up long before him, and he had heard her puttering around in the kitchen, so he assumed she was cooking breakfast. But if he remembered correctly, Mai told him the eggs in the fridge had expired. However, he chose to keep silent.

Once they were inside, Mai escorted her uncles and their attorney to the sitting room, while the rest of the clan went to the kitchen to partake in the breakfast Mai had prepared. As Jirou and Saburo took their seats on one end of the low table, Mai asked Andy to bring them some tea. Andy was happy to, as legal proceedings made him uncomfortable.

"Now, then," Jirou said with a small nod to the black-suited attorney. "Our attorney has drawn up the affidavits for you." The lawyer, upon being nodded at, placed his briefcase flat upon the table, opened it, and withdrew several documents which he passed to Mai, who was seated opposite her uncles.

Mai picked up the affidavits and began to read them silently. She was still reading when Andy came back in with the tea, placed the tray in the center of the table, and sat down to Mai's right.

"What are you doing?" Saburo asked her.

"Reading," Mai answered. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Why?"

"Why do you care?"

Jirou leaned across the table towards her, a small vein on the right side of his temple throbbing slightly. "This is not a negotiation, Mai-san! This is the fulfillment of a pact that was sealed by an honor duel! We will not let you alter that document in any way!"

Andy started to lean forward as well, but Mai placed an arm in front of him. "I've got this, Andy." She then addressed Jirou: "You've clearly won, uncle, so again I ask: why do you care if I read it? I just _want_ to read it. Relax. Drink some tea. It's good for you. If I remember correctly, the clan's physician has been telling you to watch your blood pressure. So don't stress out. This will all be over soon."

Andy found that he once again had to struggle to maintain a straight face, to disguise the fact that he was amused by the irony of Mai telling her uncles that it would be over soon, when they were the ones who had beaten her. Several minutes later, and Mai finally set the papers back down on the table. "Okay, I'm ready to sign. Do you have a pen?"

Jirou and Saburo both looked at each other, and then over to their attorney. "Wait... you're okay with it?" Saburo asked her. "What did you read in there?"

Mai blew out a loud breath. "Nothing! Jeez, first you _want_ me to sign, and now you're suspicious? Make up your minds! Now, come on! Who has a pen?"

"Um... perhaps we should look at it again, first," Jirou said cautiously.

"Are you trying to back out of our agreement?" Mai asked them. "Because if you are, I'm calling _my_ attorney."

At the mention of this, the clan's lawyer leaned over and started whispering to Jirou. Mai could have overheard it, but she really didn't care what they were saying.

"I have a pen, Mai," Andy said, producing one from the pocket of his slacks and offering it to her.

"Thanks, Andy, honey," Mai said with a sweet smile as she accepted it. She then signed her name on the line and passed the affidavits back to her uncles, effectively ending any further discussion. "There. The dojo is yours, now." Mai then stood up, pulled a ring of keys from her pocket, and dropped it onto the table. "Here's the keys."

Her uncles did not move to retrieve the document, instead they continued to eye their grand-niece suspiciously. "I thought you'd be celebrating right now," Mai told them. "You won! Savor it!" She picked up one of the teacups off the tray, gulped it down, and then slid the tray across the table to the two older men. "Here, drink up before it gets cold!"

Jirou and Saburo looked at each other, and then back at Mai. Neither one of them took a cup of tea. Finally, Mai gave an exaggerated shrug. "Well, fine. Just sit there. Andy and I have to finish packing, anyway. We'll be out of your hair in no time!"

"Right," Andy said with a nod of agreement. The two lovers rose from the table, bowed to the others who were still seated, and left the room to wake up their guests.

By the time they had accomplished this, Mai's uncles were ready to inspect their boxes. Andy and Mai weren't taking a lot, just the furniture from their bedroom, their clothes, random figurines, wall hangings and other decorations that had belonged to Mai's family, her old scrapbooks and photo albums, and aso her grandfather's chair and writing desk. Mai had been correct in assuming that her clan mainly wanted Hanzo's books and scrolls on Ninjitsu, so they approved everything that had been packed, though they searched it thoroughly to make sure Mai wasn't smuggling out anything from her grandfather's collection of literature.

Mai stood there with a neutral expression the entire time, though inside she was smiling because she knew they wouldn't find anything. Hanzo's letter to Mai was secure on her person, and as for the diagram he'd included with it (which showed where the clan's secret scrolls had been buried in the courtyard), Mai had burned that a long time ago. All the copies they had made from Hanzo's books earlier that week were being held by the librarian until Mai could pick them up. _I have to remember to tell Andy that she's invited to the wedding,_ Mai thought.

After the boxes had been inspected and approved, Jirou and his wife took their leave. Because he preferred his duties as chief elder, Jirou appointed his younger brother master of the dojo, and as Mai and Andy moved out, Saburo and his family started to move in.

After their van had been loaded, Master Jubei announced that he was taking a cab to the train station to return to his dojo. He said his goodbyes to Mai and Andy at the base of the long stone stairway.

"You take care of yourself, Mai-chan," he told Mai. "Your grandfather's last request to me was that I keep an eye on you. Even though you'll be across the ocean and most of another continent, I still feel a responsibility."

Mai leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Don't worry, Master, I plan to stay in touch. I'll be sending you details about the wedding, because you are of course invited. But I also want to hear more stories about you and Ojisama from when you were my age."

The old judo master chuckled. "Since he can't stop me from embarrassing him, it will be my honor."

Jubei then turned to face his old student. Andy folded his left hand over his right, which was curled into a fist, and bowed respectfully. "I won't let you down, Master," he said. "I'll take care of her."

Andy's sensei returned the bow. "You've never let me down, Andy. Even if it did take you forever to figure out what was sitting right in front of you. And I think you'll be needing _her_ to take care of _you_ more."

After Jubei's cab arrived, Mai took one last walk through the dojo to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. As she walked down the hallway which led to the foyer, Mai saw her cousin, Nobutoki Shiranui, standing in the open doorway of her old bedroom, the one she'd grown up in, leaning casually against the frame of the shoji, arms crossed in satisfaction.

"So glad I ran into you before you left, Mai-san. Just wanted to show you _my_ new bedroom."

Mai stepped over to the open door and peeked inside. Nobu had already moved his boxes in and started to unpack. "Good choice, cuz," Mai said casually. "This used to be my bedroom. I can tell you it's real cozy."

In an instant, Nobu's smirk of triumph was gone. "This... this was your room?"

Mai nodded and rocked back and forth on her heels. "Mm hm. _Real_ cozy," she repeated. "You'll love it."

Nobutoki was standing up straight now. "What did you do to it?"

"Nnnnnnnooooothiiiiing," Mai answered in a singsong voice as she continued rocking on her heels.

"You're lying," Nobu spoke more frantically, his eyes narrowed. "You booby-trapped it, didn't you? What did you do?"

Mai stopped rocking, and pulled a fan out from under her top. "Nobu-San, I didn't do _anything_ to it." She opened the fan and began to flap it daintily in front of her face. "I'll have you know that I'm a proper Japanese ninja maiden. Petty vengeance is beneath me."

Nobutoki snorted. "Please. We both know you are not a maiden. Or proper."

"But you left out ninja," said Mai. "So you admit I _am_ one. Hah!" She cackled with delight.

Her cousin's face flushed slightly. "Um, no, I..."

Mai snapped her fan shut and poked him lightly in the ribs with it. "Yes you did!" Mai laughed and turned her head back up the hallway. "Nobutoki-San just admitted I'm a ninja!" She called as loudly as she could.

"Will you keep your voice down?" He asked almost pleadingly, his hands raised.

"Sure, cuz," Mai said cheerfully as she tucked her fan away. "It doesn't matter anyway. I got it on tape."

Nobutoki frowned at what Mai was wearing, and then scratched his head. "Where are you hiding a recorder? How?"

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" Mai said sweetly, once more rocking on her heels.

A few seconds later, Andy came walking up the hall towards them. It was the first time in his life that Nobutoki was happy to see the American.

Andy, of course, was _not_ happy to see him. The only reason he didn't deck Nobutoki for the way the cocky ninja had humiliated Mai was because he knew it wouldn't undo the outcome of the duel. So he ignored Nobu completely and spoke to Mai. "I thought I heard your voice just now, Mai. Are you ready to go?"

"Sure, Andy, honey," Mai said. "I was just saying goodbye to my dear cousin." She stepped over to Andy's side and offered him her arm. Andy hooked his own arm into it and the two started back up the hallway. As they walked away, Mai glanced over her shoulder. "Enjoy your new room, Nobu-san," she called. "Like I said, _real_ cozy."

Nobu shook his head in frustration. "That's it. I know you booby-trapped it. I'm taking the hakujin's old room instead." With that, he disappeared inside the bedroom to repack his boxes.

Andy looked at Mai, but the ninja girl continued to look ahead, smiling and humming to herself. Finally he asked: "Mai... did you do anything to that room?"

"No, Andy," said Mai. "I don't bear my cousin any ill will. He beat me in a fair fight. So I didn't booby-trap my room. But he seems convinced I did. Which is too bad. Because I _did_ booby-trap your old room, which he's now moving into."

"What did you do?" Andy asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Not here, Andy. Wait until we're outside."

Mai was hoping to avoid her uncle Saburo, but he was waiting for them in the foyer, standing next to Mai and Andy's travel bags. "I trust you haven't forgotten anything?" He asked them.

"Nothing, uncle," Mai said sweetly. "I'm just sorry that while I was here, I never found anything that might help you locate the Shiranui clan scrolls."

"No matter," Saburo said. "We'll find them. They're somewhere in this dojo. They have to be."

For a moment, Andy had a look of confusion in his eyes. They had been so busy the last several days, that he'd completely forgotten about the scrolls Hanzo had entrusted to Mai. Mai had never mentioned what would happen to them, and she didn't look terribly concerned now, so Andy forced his gaze back into neutral. Saburo, thankfully, had been looking at Mai and didn't notice Andy's confusion.

"I'm sure they are," said Mai. "Well, Sayonara, uncle." She bowed to Saburo, and then she and Andy shouldered their travel bags and stepped past him to go outside.

Joe Higashi was waiting out in the courtyard. Andy and Mai would be staying at his place in Tokyo for a week while they made arrangements to have their things moved overseas, then they would be flying to South Town from Haneda. Blue Mary was going to meet them after their flight landed to have lunch with them, and to give them her key to Terry's apartment. She had told them that Terry probably wouldn't mind if Andy and Mai squatted there while they looked for their own place.

Andy couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Terry coming home after being away for a few months, only to find his brother and his brother's fiancé staying in his apartment.

"What's so funny?" Mai asked him.

So Andy told her. "I just realized that Terry's been off on a training journey since August, so we've had no way of telling him everything that's happened. He's gonna be in for a surprise when he gets back to find us living in his place."

"Oh my god, you're right, I hadn't thought of that!" Mai laughed with him as they walked through the courtyard to the archway where Joe was standing.

"You guys ready?" Joe asked when they got near.

"One moment," Mai said. She turned and her gaze swept slowly over the courtyard, and the building behind it, committing to her memory the last images of the only home she'd known for her entire life.

Except now it wasn't. And looking over it now, Mai found she was at peace with that. She'd always have fond memories of her life here, but she and Andy would make plenty of new memories together, regardless of where they lived. Home was wherever she and Andy could be safe and happy together.

Mai nodded to herself, then turned to face her lover and his friend. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

The three of them started down the long stone steps towards the van, and when they were halfway down, Mai said to Andy: "Sashimi."

"Um, what?" Andy asked her.

"That's how I booby-trapped your old room," Mai explained. "I stuffed raw sashimi inside the window curtain rods. The last place he'd ever think to look. I'm tempted to call him in a month and see if the stench has driven him mad yet."

Joe laughed aloud. Andy just stared at Mai with that uncomprehending look that Mai sometimes found adorable.

"That's pretty clever," said Joe. "More clever than what I did."

"What did you do?" Mai asked him.

"I put plastic wrap over the toilet bowl in your uncle's bathroom," the kickboxer answered her.

Mai laughed and held her hand out to Joe for a high-five. "Nice!" Joe reached over and slapped his palm against hers.

Andy sputtered, unable to form words. He did not know which was more shocking: Mai's unladylike behavior, or the fact that she and Joe were actually getting along.

"You know, the curtain rod thing was actually Master Jubei's idea," Mai said. "He also suggested sawing halfway through one leg on each of the footstools in the reading room. Which I did. I never realized just how wise he is."

"Really?" Joe said. "He told me that I should crazy glue the kitchen windows shut, and also stick some silverware in the garbage disposal."

"I stuck something in the disposal, too," said Mai. "A few of the teacups. Well, I guess they'll have fun with that, won't they?"

Andy had heard enough. "Mai!" he blurted out. "I expect this sort of thing from Joe, but you... this behavior is unbecoming the master of this dojo."

"But I'm not the master, Andy," Mai said sweetly. "Not anymore. So I can do whatever I want. I guess next you'll be laying a guilt trip on me for peeing in all the sake bottles..."

Behind them, Joe laughed so hard he nearly lost his balance. "Damn, Andy, I never realized how awesome your fiancée is!"

"Mai, that's disgusting!" Andy snapped at her.

"Please, Andy," Mai said as she tossed her ponytail. "I'm a lady, not an animal. I was sure to use a funnel so I didn't spill any."

"You didn't... in all of them?" Andy asked her.

Mai shook her head. "Well, actually, I only peed in one or two. The rest of them I spiked with laxative."

Andy smacked his forehead. "I wish I'd known that. Before Master Jubei left, I let him take a bottle with him to thank him for his help."

"Oh," said Mai. "Whoops." Then she shrugged. "Well, serves him right for grabbing my ass when I was cleaning the TV room the other day. And then yesterday morning, when he opened the bedroom door while I was standing stark naked in front of my dresser. And then he actually tried to tell me he didn't know the room was occupied!"

"Hm," Andy thought for a minute. "Well, maybe Master Jubei _did_ deserve that, then. But still... all that stuff you did to your clan?"

"Parting gifts, Andy!" Mai said, slipping an arm around his waist. "I couldn't just leave without thanking them for everything they've done over the years. And now, I've burned all my bridges here! In a few hours we'll be sipping warm sake in Tokyo, and I won't be wasting any more time thinking about my clan. That chapter of my life is done."

In the end, Andy couldn't help but smile at her. Of _course_ Mai would use childish pranks as a way of putting the past behind her. It was unorthodox and it was unique, the two words that best described her, and one of the reasons Andy considered himself lucky that she was his woman. Even when her behavior was juvenile. "You really are one of a kind, Mai," he said with a laugh.

"So are you, Andy, honey," Mai said, and rested her cheek against his shoulder.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Joe climbed into the driver's seat of the van. "So, next stop: Tokyo?" He asked them.

Andy and Mai climbed in on the other side and fastened their seatbelts. "Not yet," said Mai. "We need to make a few stops. First, let's go see my family!"

"Right," Joe said, and started up the van. As it slowly took off down the road, Mai watched the venerable structure of her clan's dojo through the window, growing smaller as they drove away, until it was lost from sight.

* * *

A short time later, Andy and Mai were in the nearby cemetery, kneeling in front of Mai's family haka. The large stone monument sat on a small, grassy hilltop that overlooked the rest of the cemetery. In the ground underneath were buried four urns, which housed the ashes of Mai's immediate family, her parents and grandparents.

As they knelt there, Mai reached into her purse, pulled out four long-stemmed white carnations, and laid them side by side at the granite base of the haka. Mai had been about four years old when her grandmother was buried here, so she didn't remember all of the details about that service. She only remembered that night, when her mother tucked her into bed, how she had placed Obasama's ornamental hairpin on Mai's nightstand, and told her that even though tradition stated that Mai's mother should be wearing it, Obasama would have preferred for Mai to have it.

 _She loved you very much_ , her mother had said. _She never got tired of telling you the story of this hairpin, no matter how many times you asked to hear it, even though you could recite it by heart._ It was after that night that Mai started growing her hair longer.

She was a few years older when her parents were involved in their car accident, while they had been driving home from a dinner date. Mai remembered waking up the morning after it happened and entering the kitchen, expecting to see her mother by the stove, cooking tamagoyaki and rice. Instead, Hanzo had been standing there, his countenance surprisingly soft. He had gotten down on one knee, placed his hands on the little ninja girl's shoulders, and told Mai very solemnly that the spirits of her parents had been called home to the "other world" to live with her grandmother. Mai had thrown herself at Hanzo, buried her face in his kimono, and wept for Gods knew how long. Hanzo had simply knelt there with his arms around her, not shedding any tears of his own.

Now, as she looked back at that morning, Mai recalled how Hanzo's own eyelids had looked a little red and puffy when she had first come into the kitchen, and as she got older, she realized that her grandfather had cried in private, before Mai woke up, so that he could be strong for his granddaughter while Mai poured out her own grief.

Mai smiled sadly at that memory as she pulled a stick of incense from her purse, along with a book of matches. She slid the narrow end of the stick into the grass in an upright position, and then lit the incense. She then bowed her head and whispered a sutra for the spirits of her family. _I'll be leaving soon, but you probably already knew that,_ Mai said silently to them in her mind. _I don't like that I'm going to be so far away from you, but my heart is telling me that we should go to Andy's old home city, and I know you would want me to listen to my heart's calling. I promise that I will find a temple in South Town where I can leave offerings and pray for you. I know you would understand my going away. I just... I wish I could hear you say it._

Mai finished her prayers and started to open her eyes, slowly at first, then they shot open in surprise as she saw what was nestled in the grass at her knees: a single cherry blossom (her favorite flower) which had been blown there while she was praying. Mai gently picked it up in her hand. Surprisingly, it was still fresh. It was long past the season for cherry blossoms, so this flower should be wilted beyond recognition.

The logical center of Mai's brain told her that this had been blown here from a flower arrangement left at someone else's grave. But Mai liked to think it was a sign. A sign that the spirits of her family understood why she had to go, and that no matter how far away she traveled, they'd always be with her.

She smiled, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Next to her, Andy placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" He asked her.

"I'm fine, Andy," Mai said as she threaded the stem of the blossom into her hair. "Really, I am. I'm ready to go now."

Andy rose to his feet and offered Mai his hand. After Mai was standing, as well, she planted a kiss on the top of the gravestone. "I love you all very much," she whispered. "Someday, I'll be back to see you again. And maybe by then... we might have a new member of the family for you to meet." She smiled at that thought, then she took Andy's hand and the two of them started towards the cemetery gates.

"That reminds me, Mai," Andy said when they were halfway there. "Do you... have enough pills?"

"Oh, yeah," Mai said. "My doctor gave me an extra month's worth. That should be enough until I can find an OB-GYN in America."

"Good," Andy said.

After another moment of silence, Mai said: "Andy... I wanted to let you know that... even though I will take your last name after we're married, I plan on keeping my own name, too. Mai Shiranui-Bogard. I may be an exile, but I still have the blood of great ninja warriors in me. And I can never forget that."

Andy smiled and put an arm around her. "Of course you can't. I wouldn't ask you to give that name up. Shiranui is a strong name that commands respect in the fighting circles of Ninjitsu."

Mai stopped walking for a moment, then turned Andy to face her, and stood up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. "Thank you, Andy," she said. "I love you so much."

"I love you," Andy whispered to her, and kissed her back.

Joe was standing out by the van when they exited the cemetery. "Thanks for waiting," Mai told him. "We have just two more stops to make."

First stop was to the library, to get their box of copies they'd made of Hanzo's books. When that was loaded in the van, Mai told Joe to head in the direction of Mino, Mai started to give Joe directions on where to head next. Eventually, they found themselves outside of a public storage facility. Mai pulled a locker key out of her purse, told Andy and Joe to wait for her, and then she got out of the van and entered the facility.

"Any idea what we're doing here?" Joe asked Andy.

"No," Andy said. "I know that Mai ran an errand earlier this week, but she didn't give me any details. I didn't think to ask for them, since I had been cleaning for five straight hours and was happy to get a break."

A short time later, Mai came back out of the facility, but she did not seem to have anything with her except her purse, which she had entered with. She climbed into the cab of the van and took her seat between Andy and Joe.

"Okay, Joe," she told the kickboxer. "We can go now."

As Joe pulled back out onto the road, Andy asked his fiance: "Okay, Mai, so... why did we stop here?"

"Oh, no big reason," Mai said with a shrug. "Just picking up my birthright, that's all." She un-shouldered her purse, and opened it, showing both men its contents: several ancient-looking scrolls of parchment.

Andy's eyes went wide with shock. "Mai, are those..."

"My family scrolls?" Mai said. "Of course they are. You didn't think I'd leave them with my uncles, did you?"

"Well," Andy answered her. "You never mentioned them. And I knew that your clan didn't know you had found them, that's why I didn't say anything."

"I appreciate that, Andy," Mai said. "Because it helped my plan. You're right about the clan not knowing I'd found them. They think that the scrolls are still hidden somewhere in the dojo. Which is why I ran that errand earlier this week, to rent a storage locker to put them in, so my uncles could keep thinking I never found them."

"Mai..." Andy's voice dropped to a whisper. "Are you... stealing them?"

"Not really," Mai explained. "Remember what Ojisama said in his letter. These are _my_ birthright. And I'm keeping it that way. Why do you think I wanted to read my clan's affidavit? According to its language, the moment I signed it, they assumed ownership of the dojo and all possessions contained therein. These scrolls were not _in_ the dojo when I signed. So technically, they still belong to me. My uncles might say otherwise, if they knew I'd done this, but soon we'll be over seven-thousand miles away from them, so as far as I'm concerned, what they don't know won't hurt them."

Mai gave a small giggle. "It's funny. Ojisama's brothers never thought much of me. I'm guessing that's why they let us stay an extra week in the dojo. They probably didn't think I'd plan something like this. They've always seen me as a ditzy, big-breasted bimbo who's been poisoned by Western culture. And I was always happy to do whatever I could to foster that belief in them. Because I paid attention to my kunoichi lessons, and my aunts always told me that kunoichi have to be clever to get what they want. If my uncles hadn't underestimated me, then maybe these scrolls would be in their hands right now. But, that's what they get for being so pig-headed."

Andy and Joe exchanged a glance with each other. Then, all three of them started to laugh hysterically. After they were done, Andy gave a Mai a hug, while Joe told her: "Mai... you won't hear me say this often, but... damn, I'm impressed!"

"Thank you, Joe," Mai said, and gave him a peck on the cheek. Then she snuggled up against Andy. "Now let's get out of here. It's time to celebrate. I've been itching for a cup of hot sake ever since I signed that affidavit."

"Sounds good to me," Joe said as he turned onto the ramp for the highway. "Next stop: Tokyo!"

Andy laughed and put an arm around his fiancee. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but... I could go for some sake, too."

Mai then moved up onto Andy's lap. "Well, Andy, baby, until we get there, how about a drink of something else to tide you over?" She then pressed her lips firmly against his. Andy wrapped his arms around Mai's lower back and eagerly returned the kiss.

Joe saw the shameless public display of affection out of the corner of his eye, and scowled as he focused on the open road. "Okay, you two: can you at least promise me you _won't_ make out for this entire trip? How about just the first fifty miles? That's fair, right?"

Andy and Mai's tongues were too preoccupied for them to answer, so Joe nodded to himself. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, and continued trying to ignore them as he drove.

* * *

The week they spent at Joe's penthouse apartment went by too quickly. Largely because there was still a lot of work to do, what with unloading the van, returning it, and making arrangements to have the boxes shipped overseas.

Mai also placed calls to the electric, water, phone, and heating companies to let them know she was no longer living in the dojo, and asking them to cancel her accounts. When asked if someone else would be living there, Mai told them "no," and was advised all services would be shut off at her old address in approximately one week. "Great!" Mai told the service person on the other end of the phone. "Thanks so much for your help! Onegai shimasu!" Then she hung up.

Finally, it was the night before Andy and Mai's flight to America. Their bags were packed, Mai was out on the deck having a relaxing soak in the hot tub, while Andy and Joe were having a sparring match in Joe's exercise room.

This one did not end with any broken ribs, but it did end in a draw. Perhaps it was because the two friends knew it would be a while before they sparred again, but each of them brought their A-Game. Fighting was what they both knew best, had always been their common language, so this long, dragged-out match was their way of saying goodbye. At least until the next time they sparred.

For over an hour they exchanged blows with each other. Then Andy launched a Zan-Ei-Ken at the same time Joe did a Taiga Kikku. The blond ninja's elbow and the kickboxer's knee collided in a burst of chi that knocked them both flat on their backs.

When Andy's world stopped spinning, he became aware that Joe was standing over him. Andy accepted his friend's outstretched hand and was pulled to his feet.

"That was definitely one for the books," Joe said, still trying to catch his breath. "Maybe next year, I'll finally beat you."

Andy nodded, and after a few moments of silence, he said. "Joe... I've never been good at this sort of thing. Goodbyes... make me uncomfortable, because of my childhood..."

Joe clapped his hand over Andy's shoulder. "I know what you wanna say, even if you can't say it. I'll miss you too, man. Doesn't matter how far apart we are, we'll always be best buds."

Andy reached out and clapped his own hand over Joe's shoulder. "No," he said. "We're brothers."

The two of them hugged each other, then, and after separating, Joe told him: "Andy, after seeing all the shit you and Mai have had to go through recently... I see now just how much you two mean to each other. So even if I don't always get along with her, I'm happy that you found someone who completes you the way that Mai does. So keep me posted about the wedding. Anything I can do to help make that day special for you two, just let me know."

Andy smiled at him. Joe would probably never get along with her, but it was nice that he at least understood how special Mai was to Andy. "We will, Joe," Andy said. "Thanks."

Joe retired to the master bedroom shortly after that, preferring to use the shower in his own bathroom. Andy grabbed a shower in the locker room connected to the exercise room, and after drying himself off, donned a black tanktop and sweatpants, and then made his way to the guest bedroom, hoping to catch some much-needed sleep. But when Andy opened the door, he saw Mai Shiranui kneeling in the center of the futon, dressed in her favorite pink cotton bathrobe.

"Come to bed, Andy..." she whispered, her brown eyes fixing him with a come-hither stare. "Make love to me."

For a split-second, Andy stood there, uncertain of what to say. On the one hand, he felt he should remind Mai that they had to be up before sunrise to catch their flight, but on the other hand, it had been almost three weeks since he and Mai had been intimate together. Mai obviously missed it, and as Andy gazed into those dark brown eyes, saw the lustful smile on Mai's face, he realized that he missed it, too.

Then Mai opened her bathrobe and let it slip from her shoulders, revealing her naked glory. The sight of Mai in her birthday suit was always enough to get Andy instantly aroused, and after that, there was no way in _hell_ he was going to deny her request. So, Andy undressed quickly without saying a word, got onto the bed with Mai, and made love to her.

An hour later, their mutual hunger was finally sated. Andy rolled off of her onto his back, and Mai immediately moved into her favorite sleeping position, curling up alongside her fiancé and resting her head against his chest, while also draping her right thigh across his legs. Andy held her close under the covers, and breathed in her scent: an enticing bouquet of sandalwood soap and herbal shampoo, mixing with the smell of sex that still hung over the bed.

After a few minutes, Andy opened his eyes, gazed down at Mai and lovingly brushed a few stray locks of her silky auburn hair away from her face. She looked completely happy and at peace, the opposite of how she'd looked the night after her honor duel.

Andy leaned down and tenderly kissed her eyes. "I love you, Mai," he whispered to her.

"I love you, Andy," Mai whispered, her eyes still closed. "Thank you... for being so wonderful these last few weeks."

"You don't ever have to thank me for that," Andy told her. "I know how it feels to lose your home."

For a while, Andy just lay there, enjoying the feel of Mai's warm, soft body snuggled against him, as he always did in the afterglow. Then he felt Mai stir slightly. He gazed down again and saw that her luminous brown eyes were open, and looking up at him.

"Andy," she said. "I've been thinking. What are we gonna do after we get to South Town?"

"I thought we had discussed that: we make apartment hunting our priority, then once we find a place to live we resume planning the wedding, you'll apply for citizenship, I help you study for that test, I also go to drivers ed so I can eventually get a license..."

Mai placed a well-manicured finger gently over his lips, cutting him off. "No, I mean: what do we do with our lives?"

"We get married?" Andy asked her. "And then a few years after that, once things have settled a bit, you go off the pill and we start trying for a baby."

Mai giggled, amazed that her fiancé could still be this dense sometimes. "Of course, Andy. But we'll still have to support ourselves, and someday we'll have to support our kids. I'm talking about _jobs._ "

"Oh," Andy nodded slowly as realization dawned on him. "I guess I hadn't thought about that. I'm sure I can find a job similar to the odd work I did around Mino, when I saved up for your ring."

"Well, answer me this, Andy: that was pretty menial work. You had a good reason for doing it, but could you see yourself doing any of those jobs for a living?"

Andy thought about that. Those jobs had been easy, because he kept telling himself he was doing them for Mai's engagement ring. But he didn't know if he could do that sort of thing in a regular 9 to 5 capacity. His passion had always been studying the fighting arts. It was one of the only things he really liked doing.

Mai took the look in his eyes as a _no_ , so she went on. "Exactly. The both of us only know one thing: fighting. I really don't have any other job experience, since I was groomed for most of my life to be master of my family's dojo. But now I can't do that anymore. And I wouldn't want you to be unhappy supporting us in a job that isn't what you truly love to do. So I don't see why we can't be masters of our own dojo in South Town."

Andy's brow creased in thought. "But would you be allowed to do that?"

"Sure," said Mai. "My clan were so anxious to get my dojo that they should have written their affidavit more carefully. I read over every inch of it, and there was nothing in there that said that I couldn't continue to practice my family's fighting style. Or to teach it to others. And since I doubt they'll be keeping tabs on me, then what's to stop us from opening our own school of Shiranui-Ryu Ninjitsu?"

Andy was more awake now, his blue eyes gazing at Mai intently. "Tell me more."

"Well, I still have the trust fund Ojisama willed to me," Mai went on. "My clan has plenty of money, which is probably why they weren't interested in it. And you have your savings, which has multiplied thanks to Cheng's help. So why don't we find some old dance studio in South Town, and convert it into a dojo? We could look for one that has an apartment on the second floor, so we could also live above it. And we'll fix it up, go into business together, and both do what we know and love: teaching and practicing Ninjitsu. And you won't have to fall behind in your own training by working a job we both know you'll hate."

Andy stared at her for a moment, his eyes shining with adoration. Then he leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. "Mai... you are beautiful!"

She giggled with delight. "I thought you'd like that idea, Andy. And you know what? We'll be more successful than my clan. They're stuck in their ways, and will only teach the arts to Japanese people. We'll teach anyone who wants to learn them, no matter what country they were born in, just like my grandfather would have wanted us to."

Andy gazed lovingly down at his fiancé, glad to see that she was truly back to her old self again. She could be annoying when she ran her mouth, but at the end of the day, what endeared Andy to her was her spirit, and her unwavering optimism. Mai had the uncanny ability to find the silver lining in everything, no matter how dark it might appear. "Ai shiteru, Mai," Andy whispered to her as he stroked her hair.

"Ai shiteru, Andy," Mai whispered back, and kissed one of his pecs. As she lay there in the dark next to Andy, Mai couldn't help but think how ironic this turn of events was: fourteen years ago, Andy had experienced a tragedy that forced him to abandon everything he found familiar to go to a new country, which had brought him into Mai's life. Today, they were engaged to be married, and Mai had experienced a similar tragedy that was forcing her to leave the only home she'd ever known, and live in another country. But also, Mai's experience wasn't the same, because she had Andy's love to fortify her as they entered this new phase of their life together.

She looked up at him again and saw Andy was asleep now. She could tell by his expression that he slept peacefully, because he knew Mai was happy. And that fact made Mai feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

She placed a soft kiss on his lips, and though Andy didn't wake up, a smile spread across his face. "That's one thing we'll always have, Andy," she whispered. "As long as we're together, it doesn't matter what happens to us. Our love will see us through." Content in this knowledge, Mai Shiranui let herself drift off to sleep in her lover's warm embrace, ready to face the future.

The End?

* * *

ADDITIONAL NOTES

See? All's well that ends well. Please let me know what you think of this alternate timeline, because I already have another story idea for it which I'm really excited about.

As always, thanks for reading!


End file.
